STEVE CLARK, PLEASE READ in answer to how CM works.

[Maximus]

Steve, if you don't mind me asking, why won't you download the demo?

Basically, the way CM works is like this.

OK, consider the way a true turn-based game like Talonsoft's games are. You know. It's like I move, fire all my units and then they draw op-fire from the enemies units that still have enough reserve movement points left. Then the AI does its move and the same thing happens in reverse.

Now consider RTS games where they all boil down to click-fests and so therefore very little actual strategy takes place.

Enter COMBAT MISSION.

CM has interwoven both of these styles of play in a way never before seen.

First of all, you must unlearn everything you have learned from previous wargames. Why?? Because all other wargames have "gamey" tactics. CM has no gamey tactics. To win, you must do what makes sense. ie. Don't charge down a MG42 post without first supressing it with covering fire or mortar fire.

Now, the way the actual "orders phase" and "simultaneous-exection phase" work is like this. Consider CM like a RTS but having a "pause" option to issue orders. First of all, the first "turn" is actually set-up. You place your units where ever you want within designated areas, using their command menu. What is a Command Menu? OK, when you select a unit (left-click), then right-click. A little menu pops up showing all available orders for that unit. In set-up phase, you'll use the commands: "Place", "Rotate", and now with the v1.01 patch, "Hide".

Now, after setup. The first real turn starts. The game is still paused and now it's time to issue the units their commands using their command menu. Each unit-type has their own specific orders. AFVs have some unique orders while infantry have their own as well. Once you get the game and manual, I suggest you read through the menu commands.

OK now. Using these commands, you can issue a whole string of different commands to the same unit. What you do is you drag movement/fire lines to where you want to move or to shoot at. Of course, to shoot at something, you must have LOS to the target.

Each command has their own color of line. ie. "Run" is a light-bluish green line. "Move" is a dark-bluish green line. "Target" is a red line. "Smoke" is a white line.

Now, once you have all your orders complete. You hit "GO!". The AI then does its orders (within the processor) then the CPU crunches both sides orders and then displays the results in a 60 second movie which represents 60 seconds of real-time battle. If you're wondering "Movie?" Yes, a movie. This means that you have no control over what happens in those 60 seconds. But never fear! CM has a special AI, called Tactical-AI that basically represents the will of the units to stay alive. During this movie, the Tac-AI will take over at anytime it sees fit to keep your units alive by either ducking for cover, popping smoke when a tank commander sees a serious threat that it can't immediately deal with, or switching targets when a more serious threat pops up that you didn't know about when you plotted your moves.

This kind of AI is a first in the genre. Never before has there been an AI that did all of this. Well it has, but it's been a human monkey playing a RTS that thinks it can click faster than the computer. Point is, is that the Tac-AI does everything for you in the movie that you would have to do yourself in an RTS.

Now, a little more about the movie. Since it is a movie, "Do we have VCR-like controls?". YES!! That's the greatest thing. Since CM is a fully 3D simulation there is no way possible to watch every little skirmish at the same time. So therefore, you can rewind the movie, scroll to a new "hot zone" and then hit play and watch what happened there.

"Well, so what happens in a movie?" EVERYTHING! Tracers fly, infantry fire and/or run, tanks rumble down a street, artillery explosions going off everywhere, tank guns going off hoping to "brew" an enemy tank or roast some infantry with HE, buildings burn. Just imagine what a WWII miniatures game would look like on the computer with the CPU handling all the animations, tracers, and explosions as both sides moved simultaneously. And that my friend is what we call CM.

Hope you liked CM 101. Come back tomorrow for Lesson 2: How to hold back your tears after the AI hands you your ass.

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"I for one, am pretty damn close to Genius"--Ol' Blood & Maximus

[Maximus]

Steve Clark, where are you man. Just bumping this up to the top.

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"I for one, am pretty damn close to Genius"--Ol' Blood & Maximus

[Steve Clark]

Just checking back before I leave work. Maximus, thank you, you didn't have to yell for me though.